***
During Ali’s absence, The Rose and Crown had become The Town Crier. No longer the convivial, everyone’s favourite ‘local’ in the town centre, now it was a themed pub, cashing in on the town’s long history. Where the laughing, bustling hordes had once gathered, now the punters were all office workers - not a builder, shop worker or car mechanic in sight. The conversations revolved around office politics and new computer systems rather than the changing fortunes of the local football team and who did what to whom last Friday.
The refit was all very well done, Ali thought as she looked around at the pseudo relics, paintings and life-sized wooden effigies of local celebrities throughout the ages, but the place was sadly lacking in atmosphere. She cast a critical eye over the effigy that stood beside the bar, and so didn’t see the landlord leave a large group of late arrivals to serve her.
“Haven’t seen you in here before. New recruit at Blestows?”
Ali turned her attention to the landlord, a middle-aged man with a middle-aged spread and pebble-dash face.
“That’s Braddock,” he supplied helpfully, without giving her time to answer and nodding towards the effigy, “one of the last Highwaymen to be hanged in the country. Over there,” he said, pointing to another life-sized representation, “is Maitland, the old Magistrate who sentenced him. Everyone knew he was in cahoots with Braddock, and only had him hung to save his own neck. No one’s ever found the booty.”
Ali, whose own roots went back as far as the town’s, was unimpressed to see her illustrious ancestor so publicly ridiculed.
“Brandy,” she stated flatly. Turning her back on the landlord, she began walking, calling out over her shoulder, “I’ll be sitting over there.”
“Hey! I’m not here to wait on tables.”
“You are now.”
From her corner table by the window, Ali would be able to see Leigh’s arrival, as well as keeping an eye on the other punters. She also had a good view of Magistrate Maitland, from whom she’d inherited the sadistic streak, but sadly not the family fortune. That was long gone.
“Your drink.” The brandy splashed over the side as the landlord plonked the glass down. Standing slightly behind her, he made no move to return to his work.
“You’ve spilt it.”
“Sorry!” he said, sarcastically.
“You will be.”
Lifting her glass with her left hand, surreptitiously, she reached out her right behind her. He was wearing thin cotton trousers. All the better! Her long fingers began feeling up the inside of his leg, sending spirals of quivering warmth from her tight breasts to her pussy as she imagined the electrifying effect it was having on him.
With that, her hand closed tightly and viciously around his semi-hard penis. She smiled as she heard the grunt of pain as he tried to stop himself from yelling out. With a satisfied smile, she took a swig from her glass before replacing it on the table. And as she did so, she squeezed again, but this time, without releasing her hold.
“Your name is?” she prompted.
“John. John Micklem.”
“Well, John Micklem, Thursday evening, come to Riverside Tower at nine o’clock. It’s only across the road from here. “
“I can’t. I’m working.”
“No, you’re not. You’ll wait in the lobby until I send for you. I won’t stand for unpunctuality. It goes without saying that you’ll come alone and won’t tell anyone.” She gave another sharp squeeze that had him crying out aloud, causing several heads to turn towards the sound. “I trust I make myself clear.”
“Yes.”
She released her hold. “Now get back to work.”
Under the gaze of a group of customers, and without a backward glance, John made for the bar.
Her distinctive, unruffled silk tones followed him. “Oh, John!”
He stopped in his tracks.
“That’s an awfully small willy you’ve got!”
Lifting her glass to her lips, she could feel the acuteness of his embarrassment as the whole place erupted in laughter. Watching as he scuttled off through a doorway that led to the kitchen, Ali felt the familiar, glorious, high-intensity volts of arousal that shook her insides.
***
“Get out, you stupid little bitch! What are you waiting for, money?”
“Money?” Leigh’s head shot up, indignation rising like bile in her stomach. “How dare you! What do you take me for, a common whore?”
“Then what? Do you think you’ve got some kind of hold over me?” he hissed poison-edged words across the room.
Too amazed to deny his insane accusations, her soft mouth fell open. The man was cracking up! With the resentful pain of denial in her eyes, she watched as his hand shook with rage.
“Surely you’re not one of those girls that thinks one quick fuck constitutes love. If so, you can put that idea right out of your head. In case it’s escaped your notice, I’m already married, and have no intention of leaving my wife for a slip of a girl.”
“But Owen-”
“Listen, young lady. You breathe one word of this to anyone,” hastily pulling on his trousers, Owen tugged angrily at the metal hasp of the zip, “and you’ll be out on your ear. I’ll put the word around amongst my colleagues that you’re a troublemaker. I’ll tell them how you can’t be trusted, that the confidentiality of patients is in jeopardy with you on the premises. I’ll make sure that you never work as a doctor’s receptionist again.” He gave the hasp another tug. Damn! His bloody flies were jammed. How the hell could he meet Nina like this?
Still naked on the couch, Leigh shivered. Her staring, wide eyes reflected her astonishment. What on earth had got into the man? He’d changed from an intelligent, though spineless, middle-aged individual who couldn’t keep his cock in his pants to an objectionable, blackmailing lunatic.
All at once she felt dirty and abused... and way out of her depth. Anxiety stirred in the depths of her bowels. God, what would she do if he carried out his threat? She couldn’t afford to lose this job.
Torn between defiance and flight, she realised the latter was out of the question since she still had no clothes on. So she could either tell him where he could stick his job or swallow her pride and beg him to reconsider. After all, she could always continue to work here while looking for another job elsewhere.
Deciding that the second idea was the best option, she opened her mouth to speak. But she heard herself with growing disquiet, as heated indignation made her reckless and the words came out all wrong.
“That’s some wild ego trip you’re on! Look, Doctor Brand,” she emphasised his name as acidly as she was able, “of course I won’t tell anyone. It wasn’t that good. Ok, it was fun, but as far as I’m concerned, it was a one-off. I’m not in the slightest bit interested in a relationship, with you or anyone else. I like my life just as it is, thank you very much.” She swung her long, shapely legs off the couch and stooped to retrieve her clothes from the floor. “You get on with your life and I’ll get on with mine. As far as I’m concerned, this little bit of... hanky-bloody-panky never happened.”
Straightening up, she caught his bitterly hostile eye, and knew she’d gone too far. His long, lean face turned crimson as his anger increased. He was visibly shaking as he strode towards her, every step full of menace. Snatching up his stethoscope from his desk as he passed, he bunched it up in his hand.
A blaze of pain erupted across her cheek as he swung the instrument and made contact with her pale face. No one had ever hit her before and she cried out, more in astonishment than pain. Her hand cupped her cheek as if that could soothe the fire, and the sudden, unexplained tightness of her breasts.
“On the contrary. If you want to keep your job,” his tone suggested she was a wayward child in need of a good thrashing, “you’ll be available as and when I de
cide. I’m not interested if the earth moves for you or not. My only concerns are that you keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut and your adorable pussy open. Do I make myself clear?”
Leigh trembled as he raised his hand a second time. She’d heard about men like him, weirdoes that got off on intimidation and violence. Slowly, she nodded her head. Even as she agreed to become his unpaid whore, she made herself a solemn vow; she didn’t know when or how, but she’d pay him back. How did the saying go? Something about not getting sore but getting even?
Chapter Two
“Here.” Ali handed Leigh the glass of wine before she was even seated. “You look done in. Something wrong?”
“No,” Leigh lied as she took the seat opposite her friend.
Lifting the glass to her lips, Leigh took a sip of the dry house white they served there, then smiled fleetingly to mask her shock at the change in her old friend’s appearance. Everything was different, not only the way she wore her hair, but also her taste in clothes. Even her make-up was more brazen than it used to be, though in all honesty, Ali had never gone in for subtlety.
For some reason that she couldn’t fathom, Leigh felt strange prickles of discomfort in the company of the woman who had once been her dearest friend. She’d imagined this scene often over the past weeks; the hugs and kisses, the wild excitement, the joyful tears. Yet all she could manage now was a flustered, “Hey, it’s good to see you after all this time. You look... great!”
Ali had already picked up the warning signals from Leigh’s body language, and now she became aware of the distress flares in her voice. While it was clear that something other than Ali’s changed appearance was bothering Leigh, Ali didn’t want to add to her distress and frighten her off. There would be plenty of time later for Ali to exert her authority over the pretty redhead, but for now, she must take things at a more leisurely pace.
Deciding on a light-hearted tone for their first meeting, Ali forced a little laugh.
“Your legs seem even longer than I remember, but you’re not as bubbly as you used to be. Are you always this miserable or is it just seeing me again?”
“Oh, bad day at the office,” Leigh quipped, trying to match Ali’s easygoing manner, though even to her own ears her usually animated voice sounded leaden, “you know how it is.”
“No, I don’t.”
There was an awkward silence, during which Ali swept her dark, rapacious eyes over Leigh’s curvy stature, and felt the familiar stirrings of arousal warming her loins.
Physically, Leigh had blossomed. No longer the willowy, small breasted teenager that Ali had left behind, Leigh had grown into a very sexy lady indeed, with a figure Ali herself would die for. Her breasts had developed into two lavishly firm globes, if the way they strained against her white blouse was anything to go by, and served to accentuate her slim waist. Her slightly rounded belly and curvaceous hips tapered to long, shapely legs. And her pretty, red-gold hair shone with a hectic brilliance.
But whatever it was that was bothering Leigh, its effect on her face was devastating. She looked weary and her normally pale skin seemed bleached of colour, and wasn’t helped by her understated make-up. Her grey-green eyes seemed to have lost their mischievous lustre and the coquettish pout of her lips was uncharacteristically sullen.
This wasn’t the joyful homecoming Ali had imagined. The pain of Leigh’s cold-shoulder would have struck at the very heart of her, were it not for her own obstinacy. Determined to get to the root of the trouble, she slapped a smile across her lips and put all her energy into her laid-back jokiness as she probed gently.
“Come on, Leigh, spill the beans. Where are you working?”
“I’m a receptionist at the Doctor’s surgery in Grovedale Road.”
Ali grinned mischievously. “Doctors, eh? Horny devils. Receptionist my eye! I bet they have you running around in a sexy little nurse’s outfit.”
Relieved that her friend’s humour hadn’t changed as much as her appearance, Ali’s joviality nevertheless grated on Leigh’s nerves. She knew she was being cranky, but that business with Owen had really got to her. Thank God she had the rest of the day off; she didn’t think she could have faced him at evening surgery.
Longing for the close relationship of the old days when they’d been more like sisters than friends, Leigh longed to unburden herself, confide her troubles to Ali. But somehow she didn’t feel totally at ease in her company, and besides, it hardly seemed fair to lay it all at Ali’s feet when the poor woman had only just arrived home.
***
Ali swigged back the last of her brandy, then holding the empty glass aloft; she clicked her fingers in the air.
Embarrassed by her friend’s brash behaviour, Leigh’s eyes flicked nervously from Ali to the bar and back again.
“You’ve been away too long! I don’t know what kind of places you’ve been spending your time in, but this is a pub, not a restaurant. You can’t expect them to wait on you when they’ve so many other customers to serve.”
“No?” Ali raised her eyebrows in an expression of feigned surprise. “Watch and learn.”
Without turning her head to look in his direction as John hurried to her side, tersely Ali ordered another brandy for herself and a second wine for Leigh.
“Ali!” Leigh hissed as John scuttled off, and then gave a little laugh before adding with a hint of respect, “you could at least have said ‘please’!”
When John returned with the drinks, Ali leaned back in her chair. Under Leigh’s shocked but oh-so-admiring gaze, Ali partly veiled her eyes with her long black lashes and gazed flirtingly at John. She flicked out her tongue and licked her lips in a way that was clearly meant to be provocative.
As he turned to go, Ali said, “I haven’t dismissed you yet.” Power was a definite turn on and once again she felt a warm, erotic thrill. The arousal in her loins spread to her breasts; her nipples hardened and throbbed. She closed her thighs tightly as if that could ease the aching of her moistening sex. “If you were a dog, you’d sit at my feet. I want you to remember that, John. Bring a collar and lead with you on Thursday. If you’re a good boy, I’ll give you a treat. If not...” Ali smiled a crocodile smile, “I’ll punish you. Now, go away. My friend and I have some unfinished business.”
Leigh’s face was a picture, a mix of incredulity and adoration- with just a smidgen of unease in her eyes. There was real command in Ali’s harsh tone, and a hunger that was just as real in the landlord’s eyes. She watched in amazement as dutifully, he returned to the bar.
“Ali! You’re outrageous!” Leigh’s giggle was the soft, tinkling sound that Ali remembered. “What was all that about?”
“Nothing you need concern yourself with just yet.” Ali took a swig from her glass and tried to clamp down the erotic charges that pulsed through her. “So, is there anyone special in your life, Leigh?”
“No.” The question touched a raw nerve, and immediately, the brief sense of fun drained from Leigh’s pale face. Her shoulders slumped dejectedly.
“Hey, what’s with the mood swings?” Ali waited until Leigh lifted her eyes to meet hers. “Lighten up.” She raised her hands in an impatient gesture. “It’s like trying to get blood out of the proverbial stone with you. After my being away for so long, I thought it would be fun to catch up. But if this is the best you can do, then perhaps I should just turn around and head back the way I came.”
Leigh held the suddenly hostile gaze from Ali’s dark, heavily made-up, kohl lined eyes and felt a sudden surge of guilt. What right had she to judge Ali’s behaviour when her own bordered on rudeness?
“I’m sorry, Ali. It really is great to see you, but I’ve had a rough morning. No, there’s no one special. To be honest, I’ve got a bit of a downer with men at the moment. As far as I’m concerned, the world would be a better place without them!”
Sucking in the air between her teeth, Ali joked. “Surely you haven’t gone off sex, Leigh? Here I am, dying for a bit of dirty gossip with my best friend, and you sit there all po-faced. I know you’ve never been the type to brag, but you must have something to tell.”
Leigh sipped her drink and placed the glass on the table with as much care as she employed to assemble her thoughts. Although they’d once been great friends, always in each other’s company, Leigh had never been in the same league as Ali. Great fun to be with, Ali had always been the life and soul of any gathering, and at first, Leigh had found life dull without her. But slowly, Leigh had built a new life for herself and wasn’t at all sure if there was room in it now for Ali.
In a last ditch attempt to salvage what was left of their time together, Leigh announced suddenly, “you’ve changed. What happened to those gorgeous long, wavy black locks? It’s not that the short, swept back look doesn’t suit you,” she cast a critical eye over Ali’s shiny, slicked back style, “it’s just that it’s going to take an awful lot of getting used to. And the suit...”
“You don’t like it?”
“Yes.” Anxious not to offend, Leigh gabbled, “Yes, of course. But it makes you look kind of... I don’t know... sort of intimidating, especially with your hair like that. Let’s put it this way...” relaxing at last, Leigh giggled, “I wouldn’t want to argue with you!”
Now both girls laughed as the memories of their sometimes volatile friendship came flooding back. It wasn’t that she hadn’t had a mind of her own, Leigh acknowledged now, it was just that Ali had always been the natural leader. Right from that very first meeting in secondary school, Leigh had found it hard to resist Ali’s more forceful temperament. Though she’d often fought hard against it, sometimes even resorting to shouting and screaming her defiance at her best friend, she had always given in eventually. It had seemed as natural as breathing to yield in the end, to comply with whatever her friend suggested, more often than not landing herself in a whole heap of trouble.
Mistress Blackheart Page 2
